The program  below is one of many featured on ALA’s online clearinghouse for school/public library cooperation managed by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation.  Visit the clearinghouse to learn more or share your own exemplary partnership!

Title of Program: Middle School Teacher Resource Center
Type of Program: Assignment Alert
Age level: Middle school
Description of Program: The Middle School Teacher Resource Center is an online website that supports Portland Public School teachers and librarians. This online resource links teachers with librarians (school and Multnomah County Library) and curriculum specialists. Specific goals are to: help librarians and curriculum specialists reach and help more teachers and students; allow teachers, librarians and curriculum specialists to share their “best” units, and allow centralized librarians (Prof. Library, School Librarians & Public Librarians) to serve more schools.
This website specifically provides:

• Lesson Plan Database–an archive of continually growing curriculum activities and resources searchable by grade level, curriculum area and topic. This website allows the lesson plans (pathfinders) to be collaboratively developed and shared by teachers, Professional Library, TOSA’s and Multnomah County Library to specific teacher needs.
• Curriculum assistance–online curriculum “help request” for teachers that immediately alerts the school librarian & curriculum specialist, Professional Library and Multnomah County Library to specific teacher needs.

Contact Information:
Doni Stewart
Portland Public Schools
Portland, OR
dstewart@pps.k12.or.us

Last night, YALSA hosted a lively chat on teen programming, focusing on inexpensive ways to hold programming. The chat was hosted by Jenine Lillian, editor of YALSA’s new book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100. Thanks to Jenine and our participants!

You can read the chat transcript (PDF). Join us next month, on Dec. 2 when we talk about teens and technology (and stay tuned for an important announcement regarding our Wednesday chats. Don’t worry, they’ll continue, just better than before).

Join YALSA for its monthly e-chat tonight in ALA Connect from 8-9 p.m. Eastern! We’ll be discussing inexpensive teen programming. Jenine Lillian, editor of YALSA’s new book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100, will lead the discussion. Come find inspiration for inexpensive programming for your library or share how you’ve been able to stretch your programming dollars.

To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect (the chat is open only to YALSA members). YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Can’t make it? The transcript will be posted on the YALSA Blog on Thursday.

When a lot of people hear “3.0″ they immediately think “technology,” but really, where are we NOT thinking of technology these days?

However, the X.0 concept really just means “next generation.” What are our next gen users going to want? Expect? Find archaic? This is ultimately what Libraries 3.0 is attempting to get us to think about.

Anyone remember the conventional wisdom “Teens will only read paperbacks?” If you were still following that maxim, you wouldn’t have gotten New Moon in your collection til last summer.  Or graphic novel collections that assumed all graphic novels were for teen collections? What are some outdated ideas that we might be holding onto RIGHT NOW just waiting for us to think our way through and overthrow?

Accomplishments

• Each fall YALSA’s Executive Committee meets in Chicago to discuss plans for the coming months. The meetings this year took place October 23 and 24 and the group talked about a range of topics including supporting and recognizing members in a recession, providing training for YALSA leadership, YALSA’s selected lists portfolio, and evaluation of the spending of Morris Endowment funds. Plans covered at the meetings are now being discussed by the full YALSA Board and will help in developing upcoming YALSA programs, services and opportunities. Documents prepared for the the meetings are available to YALSA members in the Members Only section of the Association’s web site. A post with more details on what was discussed at the meetings is available on the YALSA Blo.
• Over the past several weeks, the Organization & Bylaws Committee of YALSA has looked at the policies and procedures of all of YALSA’s selection committees with an eye to clarifying these and creating consistency between the structures of each group. I’d like to thank the Chair of the Organization & Bylaws Committee, Shannon Peterson, and her members for the work they put into the documents submitted.
• The Chair of the Division Membership and Promotion Committee submitted a set of survey questions that will be used in an upcoming YALSA member survey. Thank you to Candace Mack, the Chair of the Committee, and her members on this survey.
• YALSA is getting ready for Midwinter Meeting 2010 and has plans for several programs, meetings, and social opportunities. As this year’s meeting is in Boston, we wanted to reach out specifically to members of the Association that live in Massachusetts. An email was sent to all of those members letting them know what YALSA is planning for Midwinter 2010 and to inform them how they can participate. Boston Public Library teen staff are working with YALSA to help promote Association Midwinter events and to provide information on local activities, sites, lodging, and restaurants to attendees.

Media

• Participated in three radio interviews to talk about Teen Read Week, Teens’ Top Ten, and teen reading. Interviews were completed with KISS-FM in Seattle, Radio Disney in Atlanta, and Radio Disney in Detroit.
• Provided quotes to YALSA’s Communications Specialist Stevie Kuenn on Teen Read Week and Teens’ Top Ten for YALSA press releases.

In Progress

• YALSA’s Executive Director, Beth Yoke, and I are working with a grant writer on an IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant proposal. We have identified three states that will partner with YALSA on this project – Connecticut, New Mexico, and West Virginia – which focuses on providing face-to-face and web-based training, mentoring and support, and web-based social capabilities to librarians working with teens that are not teen librarians.
• In order to provide YALSA members, teen librarians, and library school students with the chance to meet and discuss topics of interest, YALSA is developing opportunities for members to host local meetups in their communities. These meetups will coincide with YALSA’s echats held on the first Wednesday of every month as a follow-up opportunity to continue discussing the topic of the month’s chat and/or as a way to participate in the chat as a group.
• YALSA received resumes for the position of Editor of the Association’s new research journal. The Search Committee has reviewed the resumes and will meet via conference call the first week of November to discuss the candidates and determine next steps.
• Members of the academic community are important members of YALSA. This year, as a part of the ALISE (Association of Library and Information Science Educators) Conference in Boston, held just before ALA’s Midwinter Meeting, YALSA plans to host a happy hour for library school professors and instructors.
• In 2004, a YALSA Task Force, convened by then President Audra Caplan, developed a set of recommendations for the use of Morris Endowment funds. The document developed by that Task Force included a recommendation that the spending of these funds be evaluated every five years. As YALSA is now at the five-year mark, I am appointing an Ad Hoc Committee of the YALSA Board to perform the evaluation and submit a report by Midwinter 2010. Thank you to YALSA’s Fiscal Officer, Mary Hastler, who has agreed to Chair this Ad Hoc Committee.

Additional Important YALSA News

• The Midwinter Meeting is just 2 /12 months away and YALSA is sponsoring several events. The Friday Institute is titled Library 3.0: Teen Edition and will focus on helping teen librarians think about the future of library services and includes a Skype conversation with author Cory Doctorow and a presentation by futurist and California state librarian Stacy Aldrich. You can register for the Institute on the Midwinter Meeting web site.
• Also on Friday, January 15, at Midwinter, YALSA is sponsoring the Games, Gadgets, and Gurus social event. This is a chance to try out a variety of technology tools and meet with peers to talk technology and teen services. You can register for this program on the Midwinter Meeting web site, and if you register for both the Institute and the Games, Gadgets, and Gurus event you will receive a discount.
  There is still time to apply for YALSA’s 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium stipend. The Symposium takes place November 5-7, 2010 in Albuquerque, NM and stipends are available for up to $1000 each to two YALSA members. Learn how to apply for the stipend on the YALSA web site.
• The official announcement of the two YALSA members selected as 2010 Emerging Leaders was made this month. Congratulations to Anna Koval, teacher-librarian at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, California, and Amy Barr, youth services librarian and assistant director at Kilgore Memorial Library in York, Nebraska. YALSA’s Emerging Leaders are funded through the Friends of YALSA.
• October was the first month for YALSA’s new Blog Manager, mk Eagle. Over the past month mk has been working with the Association’s committees, bloggers, and podcasters helping them to formulate ideas for posts and audio content. Thank you to mk for taking on this role and working on ways to enhance and extend the blog’s authorship and readership.
• Thank you as well to the Chair of the Teen Read Week Committee, Carla Land, and her group. The 2009 Teen Read Week was a great success and the work of the Committee helped bring about that success. 2010 Teen Read Week will be held October 17 – 23 and have the theme “Books with Beat @ Your Library.”
• Fall is a busy time of year with many state and regional conferences being held. Several YALSA members will host YALSA Road Trips during these events. Thanks to all the YALSA members who are organizing Road Trips.

The YALSA Board of Directors will meet by conference call on Nov. 11 from 3-4 p.m. to discuss ALA policy changes regarding committee participation, and how those changes will impact YALSA. YALSA members who would like to sit in on the conference call can contact Letitia Smith at  yalsa@ala.org to find out the phone number and password for the call.

Update: That’s 3-4 p.m. Eastern.

With Halloween just a day away, one cannot help but think of ghosts and spirits.  Washington D.C. has plenty of opportunity for frights, even when you don’t count the politicians!  When you come to ALA Annual next June, you just might see a spirit or two!

D.C.’s most famous haunted house is, of course, the White House.  Abraham Lincoln has been seen in the East Room (where his body lay in state), the Oval Office, hallways, and in the Lincoln bedroom.  Abigail Adams has also been see in and around the East Room, carrying and hanging laundry.  The White House was still under construction when she was living there, and the East Room was the only non-drafty space – perfect for hanging laundry!  During Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, First Lady Wilson requested that the Rose Garden be dug up, but these plans were canceled after the workmen reported seeing the ghost of Dolley Madison there, preventing them from removing the plants.  Dolley had planted the original garden, and it still grows today.  People have also reported hearing a voice say, “I’m Mr. Burns.”   The land the House was built on once belonged to a David Burns; maybe he doesn’t want to be forgotten!

Several other historic houses are rumored to be haunted.  In the Octagon House, two daughters of the man who built the house fell to their deaths on the stairs, on separate occasions.  Visitors have reported seeing a candle flame go up the stairs, a scream, and a thud at the bottom of the stairs.  Stephen Decatur is supposed to haunt his namesake house – his death was the result of a duel, and he is often seen around the house, peering out the windows.

The National Theatre has its own ghost – a former actor who was killed by a fellow actor.  John McCullough is believed to roam the theatre before opening night.  You can read more about him and his rumored remains at the National Theatre’s website.

Two hotels are rumored to be haunted.  The Hay Adams Hotel staff is said to believe that Clover Adams, the wife of the original owner, haunts their fourth floor.  Some have heard crying, seen things opened or turned on, and a few have even reported receiving hugs from her!  The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel hosted the Inaugural Ball for Calvin Coolidge, but he did not attend because he was mourning the death of his son.  Strange occurrences have since happened on January 20th, the date of Inauguration, including flickering lights, mysterious plates and wine appearing, and an elevator that does not want to move.  Many think it is President Coolidge or his son, having the celebration they never had.

The Capitol building has many ghosts lurking in its halls , but perhaps the most creepy is the demon cat, DC.  His appearance warns that a national tragedy is about to happen.  He was seen before the 1929 stock market crash and the assassination of JFK.

Another spooky location you can visit is the Exorcist stairs.   These are the famous stairs used in the movie, and they are located in Georgetown.  The house used in the movie is also located near the stairs.  You can read about how the steps were supposedly used at Dark Destinations.

Several companies operate ghost walks and tours.  If you are interested in one while you visit D.C., they can be easily found with an internet search.  Schedules vary throughout the year.

Stories for this post have been complied from personal memory, websites mentioned above, and the following websites:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101802274.html
http://www.haunted-places.com/WhiteHouseGhosts.htm
http://www.thingsthatgoboo.com/hauntedplaces/hauntedDC.htm
http://www.ontaponline.com/article/11230

In a previous post I wrote about ALA/YALSA Fall Exec, the time when the Executive Committees from ALA Divisions meet (individually) to plan for the upcoming months and year. Last weekend was the 2009 Fall Exec weekend and I wanted to follow-up the previous blog post with some information about discussions and plans. (As a reminder, all of the documents for Fall Exec are available to YALSA members in the Members Only section of the Association web site.)

• It’s been five years since YALSA began using interest from the Morris Endowment and now it is time to evaluate use of the funds. I have appointed Mary Hastler, YALSA’s Fiscal Officer, to Chair an Ad Hoc Committee of the Board to take on the evaluation and present a report to the YALSA Board at Midwinter 2010.
• Taking into account feedback from YALSA membership and the YALSA Board, the Executive Committee agreed to work on a selected lists proposal that will narrow the focus of the Best Books for Young Adults list and expand other lists (such as the Alex Awards list.) The goals of this narrowing and expansion are 1) to help make sure the work of the list committees is manageable 2) to make sure that YALSA’s lists serve the needs of its members, and 3) to make it possible for YALSA to brand their lists and develop a full portfolio of best lists for a variety of formats and audiences. The draft proposal, which will frame the issues and provide solutions, is being developed by myself and Francisca Goldsmith and will be ready for Board feedback by November 15.
• YALSA leadership realizes that many librarians are struggling financially as a result of the current economic downturn. During last weekend’s meetings, the Executive Committee discussed ways that YALSA can help and recognize members at this time. Now the YALSA Board is being asked to brainstorm strategies and techniques that YALSA can undertake in order to support members successfully at this time. In the next few months look for the results of that brainstorming in the programs, services, and opportunities that YALSA provides.
• YALSA leadership is also always looking for ways to provide member groups with the support they need in order to be effective in their work. To this end, the Executive Committee discussed providing leadership training and support for interest and discussion group conveners, and how to best use the time set aside for leadership development at Midwinter. The decisions and plans made during this discussion will be visible during YALSA’s Leadership Development session at Midwinter and via new virtual training that will be offered to interest and discussion group conveners.

This list covers just a few of the discussions the Executive Committee had during last weekend’s Fall Executive meetings. Over the next few months the YALSA Board will continue the work and you will start seeing outcomes of that work in YALSA’s programs, products, opportunities, and services.

Stay tuned.

Earlier this month I asked for your suggestions of titles the 2010 Odyssey Committee should be sure to consider. Thanks to those of you who emailed me with your favorite titles produced between November 1, 2008 and October 31, 2009. Please keep those suggestions coming – just email me at sharon.grover@yahoo.com and I’ll pass them along to the committee.

The Odyssey Award is the only media award committee I know of that’s administered by two divisions of ALA and that’s part of the great fun of serving on it. Each year, the committee switches administration between ALSC and YALSA. There are nine of us on the committee, so in a YALSA year there are 5 YALSA members (the chair’s appointed by the division administering that year’s award) and 4 ALSC members. This year, ALSC is administering the award. But here’s an interesting fact – by about midway through our year of service (and this is my second time around on Odyssey with my first appointment being from YALSA) no one remembers who was appointed by which division. We’re all just listening for the best audiobooks for children and/or young adults.

So what are we listening for? What, exactly, makes a great audiobook?

Here’s the statement that sums it up for me from the criteria found on the Odyssey website: The committee must consider technical and aesthetic aspects, including the effective use of narration as well as music and sound effects when they are incorporated into the production. These elements must come together to create a unified whole. It’s that “unified whole” that makes for a great listening experience. When it all comes together – a terrific narrator or narrators, wonderful technical aspects (crisp, clear sound; no gaping spots that make you think your batteries died; music that’s appropriate to the story and doesn’t overwhelm the text), married to a book that’s meant to be read aloud – it’s an amazing literary experience.

If you haven’t listened to an audiobook yet, give one a try. You might start with last year’s winner, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written and narrated by Sherman Alexie, produced by Recorded Books, LLC. If you are an audiobook listener, let’s hear about some of your favorites.

I’ll continue to share the Odyssey process to encourage you to become an audiobooks listener and, better yet, volunteer to be part of a future Odyssey committee.

Congratulations! YALSA named its two 2010 Emerging Leaders! Anna Koval, teacher-librarian at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, California, and Amy Barr, youth services librarian and assistant director at Kilgore Memorial Library in York, Nebraska. Both will attend the 2010 Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference. The Emerging Leaders are funded through the Friends of YALSA.

E-Chat Next Week! Mark your calendars! YALSA’s monthly online chats return next week in ALA Connect. On Nov. 4, we’ll be discussing inexpensive programming and ways to stretch your programming dollars with Jenine Lillian, editor of the new YALSA book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100. To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect. YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Lit Blog Applications and CE Proposals Due 10/30! Interested in editing YALSA’s new blog, focused exclusively on teen literature? Read the announcement to see the qualifications and find out how to apply. The deadline to propose new continuing education (online courses and face-to-face institutes) is tomorrow as well; see our announcement for topic ideas and the proposal form. Applications for the new blog manager and the CE proposals are both due to Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org tomorrow.

After the jump, find out how you can sign up for special events at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting, apply for $40K in grants and awards, promote the Teens’ Top Ten at your library, or receive a stipend to attend the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium.

Register for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events Registration is now open for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events! Sign up for the Midwinter Institute, “Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition” (featuring Cory Doctorow and others) and Midwinter Social Event, ”Games, Gadgets & Gurus.” Register for both and save! Register through Midwinter registration or, if you only want to attend these two events, by downloading this form (PDF; skip section I) and following the directions at the YALSA wiki. Want to add these events to an existing registration? You can add events two ways: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Midwinter registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added. You can see all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki, http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

Apply for $40K in awards & grants from YALSA YALSA members can apply for more than $40,000 in grants and awards! This year, we will award up the YALSA/Baker & Taylor Conference Grants, theYALSA/BWI Collection Development Grants, the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Award, the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, the Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant, and the Great Books Giveaway. Applications for all YALSA member awards are due by Dec. 1. Details on all the awards and grants are available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.

Promote the Teens’ Top Ten with bookmarks! By now, you’ve read that teens cast more than 11,000 votes for the 2009 Teens’ Top Ten and seen that John Green’s Paper Towns topped the list. YALSA created bookmarks (PDF) to promote this year’s ten winning titles; you can customize and distribute them at your library.

Apply for a YA Lit Symposium travel stipend! Join YALSA in 2010 for the Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M, with a theme  of “Beyond Good Intentions: Teens, Literature and Diversity.” We’re also giving away two stipends to offset travel costs, one for someone whose worked directly with teens in a library setting for ten years or less and one for a student in an ALA-accredited MLS program (you must be enrolled in an MLS program at the start of the symposium); stipend applications are due by Jan. 4, 2010. Details on both are available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!